Matthew J. Hoffarth

Doctoral Candidate

Entered 2011

Education

B.A., University of Pennsylvania

M.A., New School for Social Research

Research Interests

I am interested in the history of psychology, anthropology, and human resources, particularly the history of tests and testing in twentieth century human sciences and business. My work focuses on the development, use, and proliferation of psychological and personality tests in America and transnationally post-World War II.

My dissertation, "Testing the '70s, Making the Millennium: Charismatic Leadership, Social Inequality, and the Managed Self, 1968-2016," explores how psychological and personality testing have been used to reinforce social and organizational hierarchies in the United States. In particular, I focus on the ways leaders have been identified, cultivated, and compensated since the early 1970s, through practices that sustained social and economic inequality.

I received a B.A. (2008) in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. (2011) in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research.

Teaching Fields

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine; History of Social Science; Twentieth Century American History; History of Capitalism and Business; Anthropological Theory